Why Losing My Job was the Best Thing

That statement, sung by one of my favorite musicians, sums up what’s taken me the better of a year to come to terms with.

On Jan. 29, 2014, I, along with hundreds of co-workers from AOL-owned Patch.com joined a roughly two-minute-long conference call to hear that our positions had been “eliminated.” Even though the writing had been on the wall for months, I didn’t want to see that the job – really the life – that I had poured myself into for the last three plus years – disappear.

Although I felt like my world had collapsed under my feet, there was no time to sit and wallow in pity and self-doubt. Within a week I had started freelancing for a publication that deemed me a “veritable competitor” during my time with Patch.

A week after that, a community contact from one of the towns I covered at Patch asked for my help publicizing a nonprofit organization and stepping up its fundraising efforts. I had worked in public relations prior to Patch, so the work came naturally.

About the same time, a woman I knew through Patch had closed her public relations business and referred a handful of clients to me.

Seemingly overnight I morphed into a business owner. I went from working for an “upstart” company that I put on the map locally through grassroots marketing, networking and being everywhere – to having my own business to nurture, grow and build. It was both exhilarating and terrifying.

Unlike my time at Patch, I became the decider of my destiny. Fears of layoffs were no more. And the business I was building was my own, not something on loan from a multi-million dollar company.

Perhaps that is why my success the last year has been so meaningful, life-changing really. I found a passion that I thought died with my job loss.

I bring that passion to life with all of my clients and each and every one of the projects I have been entrusted to oversee. It has been the most rewarding experience of my professional life.

Yet, without the unforgettable experience of Patch, I would have never had the guts to forge ahead as an entrepreneur. I would not have had the opportunity to hone the invaluable skills – writing, interviewing, editing, photography, video – that my clients have come to appreciate.

Before fully realizing the dream I have for growing my business, I had to let go of the dream I had for Patch. It’s taken some time, more than I would have hoped, but I am right where I want to be.